Embracing Trust
by Crystal Remnant
Summary: Danny decides to take his anger out on a park fountain, as Phantom, when someone comes along and helps him put things in perspective. MaddiePhantom!bonding [Request For Zenzo][Mild self abuse!]
1. Embrace

He didn't remember deciding to go to the park. Nor did he remember why and how he had come to be at the large stone fountain in the center of the massive green haven that existed in Amity. He did, however, remember a time when he could come to the park and not have to worry if he was being followed or not. A time when he didn't believe in ghosts; when he was too young to worry whether or not the world would still be whole when he woke in the morning.

But they were just echoes from a distant past – one that he knew he'd never be able to go back to.

Sighing, he collapsed onto the cold stone that encompassed the water-feature. He'd sat here nearly everyday before he was 14, usually with Sam and Tucker. He gazed into the shimmering surface of the water and stared – just stared – at himself. The night sky above him cast a shadow over most of him, but the ethereal glow that surrounded him illuminated even the darkest areas.

It was useful; even life saving for the first year. He'd outgrown it, however, extraordinarily quickly. That moment was an example: he didn't want to see his reflection in the water. But it was there, mocking him. Teasing him and holding something that he wanted so desperately, just out of reach.

He punched the surface of the water, disrupting the image that reflected in it and the first that were hovering just below the transparent surface. He didn't want to see what he was at that moment in time. He wanted to be…_normal. _Normal – as in a high school kid that ran late to class every second day because he forgot to set his alarm clock. Normal – that was getting a detention for not doing homework because of sheer laziness, rather than being out all night ghost hunting. Normal, as in not having to come home with your head, side, or leg ripped open. Normal, as in not having to worry about whether or not you'd live to see your girlfriend or best friend the next day…

Something bubbled up inside of him – something that made his chest twist painfully – and it slowly came to the surface. All the heartache, all the losses, all the battles, pain, suffering…he let it all out in one loud scream.

He screamed as loud as he could, as hard as he could. He was pretty sure that he'd let out a ghostly wail at some point, but he didn't care! The world he worked so hard to protect, the people he'd protected countless times tore him down one too many times.

By the time he'd stopped screaming, his throat was raw and he could feel something wet run down his cheeks. He blinked in surprise and held a gloved hand to his face. He could feel the tears through the gloves. He was crying? Since when did he cry?! He furiously scrubbed the salty tears from his face, only to find they wouldn't stop. He coughed pitifully as the tears kept coming – the dam was open now.

Angry at not only everything in world, but at himself, he began punching the hard granite he was sitting on. He kept punching, crying, coughing…but the pain wouldn't stop, the tears wouldn't stop, and he thought resentfully; _the world won't stop trying to pin me as the bad guy, no matter what I do…_

He brought his hand up again to punch the granite once more, and he felt something splash on his face. Something ice-cold and slimy. He looked over to his clenched fist to find that he had, in fact, busted open all of his knuckles. A mixture of blood and ectoplasm leaked out and obviously flung itself onto his face when he raised his first. He smiled wryly at the reminder that he was a freak, and began pummeling his fist even harder into the stone.

_Crack_

He could feel the fountain's rims cracking beneath him.

_Crack _

He could feel his bones starting to splinter on impact of each punch he landed.

_Crack_

The world around him had become a blur as he continued to pelt the stone.

He raised his fist once more, but when he went to bring it down a strong tug on his wrist. He stopped numbly and turned to face whoever it was that had grabbed him only to be shocked. His mother, Maddie Fenton, stood behind him with her goggles and hazmat hood lowered. She also had a very delicate frown gracing her features – the one she'd always used when Danny had done something wrong, but was more concerned about if he was hurt or not.

"Phantom…"

"Maddie," He choked out with a broken smile, "What are you doing here?"

"Watching you abuse yourself, apparently."

He looked to where her hand joined at his wrist. A mixture of green and red – just like festive Christmas custard – leaked onto her hand and dripped onto the cracked granite below. However, with the distraction aside, he'd realized he hadn't stopped crying and turned a brilliant shade of red. He went to turn back around, but couldn't fully because she hadn't let go. Voicing his opposition to what she was doing, he yanked his wrist back.

But she only held tighter.

"Let go, Maddie," He growled at her.

She didn't though – she just held tighter.

"I said let go!"

"Not unless you agree to not hurt yourself any further."

"I'm not hurting myself," He taunted sarcastically. "I'm a fucking _Ghost-"_

"You're hurting yourself. Stop it."

"You can't tell me what to do."

"I can, I will, and you will _stop this immediately._"

He snarled at her and fazed his hand through her grip. "You can't stop me," he said, voice dripping with pure loathing and resentment, "You hunt me for fuck sake. You run me down; try to force me into that _thing-_" he said indicating to where a Fenton Thermos rested on her waist "-and you expect me to listen to you? **Ha**! Don't make me laugh!"

"Stop this," She said in a much gentler tone, "You don't need to do this to yourself."

"But I want to!" He screamed, springing up from his seat on the fountain, "I-I do everything I can for this town, the people of this town, and you! But what do I get in return? Blame! Hate! Loathing! People rallying against my very existence! Why? Because I get beaten up by Ghosts who are stronger than me while they try to take over the town? Because I'm abused, beaten into walls, yelled at! _Tortured!_ All so idiots can tell me what a _freak _I am?! Tell me! _**WHY?!**_"

Instead of a snappy comeback that he'd expect from his mother, what came next was a rather large surprise. Maddie, in the blink of an eye, had wrapped her arms around him securely, motherly, and tenderly. With one hand, she began to soothingly rub his back, and with her other hand, stroke his hair. Shocked at first, Danny slowly began to succumb to the feeling of her embrace and let himself relax.

"It's alright…" she whispered to him with only the voice a mother could use. "You can stop now."

"You're not supposed to hug your enemy," He said dejectedly from within her embrace.

"You're not my enemy Phantom. You're a Ghost, true, but you're not my enemy. I wouldn't trust you around my children, but at the same time, I wouldn't shoot you for no reason," she said.

His anger began to fade, and the feelings from before began to bubble up again. "S-So you don't hate me?"

"No. I don't hate you."

He felt a choked sob bubble up from his throat, and he felt himself began to cry again. _How embarrassing…_his mind echoed. However, he didn't feel like listening to it at that moment. His mother didn't _truly _hate him for being a Ghost… He coughed and sniffed as more tears fell. He took two fistfuls of her hazmat suit and clung to them for dear life. He felt her shift him, but only so he could bury his head into the crook of her neck. She made soothing noises, telling him again and again that it was going to be alright. That it was going to be okay. That he didn't have to keep pushing himself so hard.

He didn't stop crying for a good 20 minutes, and even after then he wouldn't let go. He didn't want to. It felt good to be just held, no strings attached. He felt his mother give a sorrowful sigh and realized what had just happened. She, on the other hand, didn't seem too bothered.

"Danny?"

He looked up at her in surprise. She chuckled, amused, but didn't remove her arms from the embrace she held him in. "Don't be surprised."

"W-What?"

"We do have files. You're a hard one to gather information on, though. Very few Ghosts are willing to give anything. All we know is your first and last name, and that you are half ghost. Danny. Are alright with me calling you that, right?" She asked, looking at him nervously.

"I-it's fine…" he said, "Its better than Phantom, anyway," He added, feeling a little relieved.

"Good. Danny. I know…the people of Amity may seem a little…blunt-" Danny snorted "- But we do appreciate what you do for us," she said, pulling away. Suddenly, he felt himself craving the warmth once more. However, he cringed when he noticed that she was pulling out a small roll of gauze she carried for emergencies. Taking his hand, she removed the white glove and cringed at the sight of his knuckles. She began wrapping and talking at the same time; "you may not realize it, but people are coming around to you. There are people who believe that you are a good Ghost. They're growing in number each day.

"I even saw a plushie of you in a store the other day. My daughter bought one, and it was the last one they had in stock, too. What I'm trying to say is, Danny-" she clipped the end of the bandage into place, "- is that people do see good in you. You just have to give them a chance." She held his hand in both of hers gently. "And from what I can tell, you're still only a child. Well, at least one when you died."

"What's that got to do with anything?" he asked, wiping his face with his free hand while feeling a little annoyed about being referred to as a _child_, of all things.

She smiled warmly at him, "You still need someone to look after you. Someone you can look up to. And I know you have friends, but you need someone who'll keep you grounded. I'll be more than happy to look out for you, Phan-…Danny. No matter what."

"B-But-!"

"No buts!" she reprimanded coolly, "This is what happens if you don't have someone like me around to talk to! And If I find you doing anything like this, you will regret it young Ghost. Understood?"

He nodded numbly with a small smile. However, now that everything that he'd repressed was out of his system, the horrible ache in his fingers began to spread like wildfire. He groaned as the painful sensation made him want to vomit. Sensing this, Maddie sighed like a mother would after their child had fallen over after being told not to run around the house. "You brought that upon yourself."

"I know," He winced, "But it still hurts."

"Good. Maybe you'll learn your lesson then."

"No fair…"

"I know."

Danny smile and gave a small laugh; "Your son is lucky to have you, Maddie."

"Maybe I'm lucky to have him. Speaking of which, he should be home by now," She said in a worried tone, "That boy is always out so late…"

"I've got to get back…to the Ghost Zone anyway."

"Goodnight, Phantom."

"Maddie," He said with a hurt nod. He launched himself of the ground, but before he started to fly away he gave her a toothy grin – and saw her eyes blink rapidly several times, as if seeing something that wasn't there – and waved; "Thank You!"

Before she had a chance to say anything else back, however, he'd flown off. She frowned to herself, mentally picturing his smile once more in her head. It was an exact copy of Danny's…then again; Ghosts copy traits of the people surrounding them to blend into their environment. Or, at least, in Phantom's case he copied the mannerisms of people in the city. She sighed once again that night for what seemed the umpteenth time. She'd have to add the information she'd gathered tonight to her file and try and figure out exactly what Phantom was.

For now, however, she decided to head home and spend some time with her family, and to especially catch up with her son.


	2. Trust

Leaning back in her chair, Maddie Fenton stretched with a small smile on her face. Everything was going accordingly – the new device that Jack had invented just needed a few tweaks to fit her taste, and it would be done. The Fenton Ghost Grabber was designed specifically to expel Ghosts from people who were possessed. She shifted once more in her seat and picked up a small screwdriver to shift a few wires when what sounded like a frantic elephant come stomping down the stairs. She smiled to herself and stood; the thumping elephant just so happened to be her 18 year old son who was muttering to himself while fidgeting with a tie.

She ground down the urge to absolutely smother her son in affection for looking so grown up, but smothering him was against the rules now – his rules, anyway. It was now down to a kiss on the cheek or a brief hug. Or, if he was really upset, he'd slump down in the sofa next to her and just sit cuddled up to her. The moment she put her arm around him, however, he'd shift. Maddie frowned when she heard her son utter one of the few curse words she'd put off limits before ripping the blue tie off altogether.

"Do you need some help, Danny?" She asked, walking out from the kitchen.

He sighed dejectedly; "Yeah. I mean, it's a stupid tie! How hard can it be to get a tie on? Stupid piece of-"

"Danny!" By now, Maddie had picked up the tie and began wrapping it around his neck, and under the collar of his black button down shirt. He flinched when she yelled, and didn't say anything else while she continued to maneuver the silky piece of material into a knot that could easily come undone. When she'd finished, she'd pushed it up just tight enough so it looked smart, but Danny wouldn't be tugging at it every two minutes.

She stepped back and admired her work. Danny had grown at least a couple of inches in the year, taking his height up to a graceful six foot two. She smiled brightly; "You look very adult Danny. Going anywhere special?" she asked crossing her arms.

Instantly his left hand went to his black trouser pocket and Maddie quirked an eyebrow. However, he gave her a goofy grin – and without realizing it, she'd forgotten about whatever was in his pocket – and laughed. "Yeah; Sam and I are going to the really nice French place up on third. You know the place Dad took you for your wedding anniversary last year?"

Maddie nodded with a wistful smile on her face; "Yes. It's a very beautiful place. I'm sure Sam will love it. But don't you ruin things!" she scolded playfully while he groaned, "That means no French, and no groping."

"_**MOM!**_"

"Well, you're old enough now to be into that sort of thing. All I'm saying is don't do anything that will ruin the night for your girlfriend. A woman scorned isn't something to be taken lightly."

"Mom…I won't ruin the night for Sam."

"No French?"

"No French."

"No groping?"

He turned a vivid red; "Mom-!"

"Promise?"

"…Promise."

"Good, now uncross your fingers."

* * *

After she sent Danny off with a small kiss on his cheek and watched him leave. Her son was growing up to fast, and she realized she'd missed most of it. She stood near the front door for a while, thinking about how quickly he'd matured in a fine young man. She snapped out of her small reverie however, when her husband came thundering past yelling 'Fudge awaits!' She smiled to herself and followed him into the kitchen where he was digging through the cabinets. She wordlessly reached into a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen and pulled out a small packet. 

Like a dog, Jack heard the sound and took it from his wife's outstretched hand. "Thank you, honey!" he yelled loudly before dashing back out. "Hey, Mads! There's a Ghost special on tonight! You wanna watch?!"

She laughed at her husband; he could still be so easily be excited about anything that was Ghostly. She picked up her tool kit and the Fenton Ghost Grabber before heading out of the kitchen. "I'll work on this tonight, Honey. But if you tape it we can both watch it together."

"That's why I love you! Always thinking ahead!" he said happily, setting up the VCR.

She smiled at him lovingly before heading downstairs to their lab. Over the years, they'd put in extensions that made room for a larger work and containment bay. Currently, a small red glob that would take shape whenever someone was in the room was rolling around in the containment chamber. Maddie looked over to it as the monitors went off, indicating it was changing. It had taken the form of a small tree. It would've been perfect if it wasn't complete dark red. It would stay like that for the rest of the night, and so, she let the computers gather information on it instead.

Her work bench was situated just behind Jack's, and was considerably cleaner and well kept. Jack liked to experiment with chemicals in his inventions, and as a result, his work bench was covered in burn marks and there was even a small hole where radioactively charged ectoplasm had leaked through. She shook her head dismissively at her thoughts and settled down to work on the Ghost Grabber.

As time went by, she occasionally looked up at the monitors to see what the red glob was doing, but it still remained in the shape of a tree. Every now and again, upstairs Jack would laugh and call the TV a liar and tell it to get its facts straight, but that was the only noise in the four hours she continued to work through.

However, around eleven that night a Ghost sensor went off, making her jump and aim her weapon at the Ghost portal. She waited for several moments as the alarms continued to go off, and eventually, she let her stance go. She shook her head – the system was probably reacting to the red glob in the containment chamber that had slowly edged its way over to the glass wall. She groaned and turned off the alarm, eventually going back to her bench to work on their invention. After settling down, she went to reach for a small pick and noticed it was gone. She leant over in her chair and looked under her table, and when she sat back upright she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Phantom hovered nervously near her; "Hi."

"Just you…you must've been the one that set off the alarm," she said to herself quietly while standing again. "Don't do that again."

"Do what?"

"Scare me!"

"Oh…sorry."

She sighed and walked out from behind her work bench and over to where the main control panels for the detectors were; "So what can I owe this visit to?" she asked him.

He floated next to her and laughed sheepishly. "I just wanted to drop by…and…talk?"

She stopped and looked at him suspiciously, but then remembered their encounter a few weeks ago in the park and smiled warmly at him. "That's fine. Whatever you want to talk about is A-Okay with me. However…there was something bothering me about last time that I want to tell you," she said, standing fully to face him.

He looked skittish – "Yeah?"

A loud slap echoed through the lab as Maddie backhanded him across his face. He floated, stunned, as the sting began to kick in. A red mark began to appear on his pale skin that contrasted with his white hair. "What was that for?!"

"For swearing in the park."

"Oh. That hurt, you know," he whined peevishly.

"Good. No swearing from now on. If I catch you again I'll wash your mouth out with Ecto-removal."

She saw him wince and took that as a small victory on her part. She continued across the lab with him floating close by. She turned the detectors back on and keyed in his ectosignature so the alarm wouldn't go off while he was in the lab. Once she was done, she turned back around to face him, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Uh…" He turned a brilliant shade of scarlet and Maddie remembered her own son turning the same shade of red a few hours before. She quirked an eyebrow and donned a small smile on her face as he continued to stutter through his sentence – it was barely coherent and there weren't enough whole words to call it one…

"Phantom…Calm down," she said while crossing her arms.

"Ah, right."

"Now, tell me what's wrong."

"I-Uh… I sort of follow your son around, making sure he doesn't get into trouble-" she scowled at him and he put his arms up defensively "- it's not like I _stalk _him or anything…but, uh, he went with his girlfriend Sam to this really nice place and I went to make sure nobody interrupted their night and he…sort of…"

She frowned, recalling what she'd told her son not to do that night; "He what?"

"heproposedtohisgirlfriendandshesaidyesandnowhedoesn'tknowwhattodosohesentmebecausehetrustsyou!" he rushed.

"Woah! Calm down, and say that a little slower, okay?" she asked, trying to sound calm and relaxed. She watched as Phantom cleared his throat and went bright red. She had to stop herself from laughing, of course. It wasn't every day that a Ghost was embarrassed.

"Your son, Danny, proposed to his girlfriend, Samantha, who said yes, and now he doesn't know what to do because I haven't…done…anything like that before. And I decided to come here because…I-He trusts you the most."

"He did what?!"

He flinched, but Maddie didn't mean to scare him. She grasped her head – she had to sit down; she felt extraordinarily light headed. Phantom was above her, stuttering, saying he was sorry, and scolding himself for not easing her into it. Suddenly, the image of Danny fidgeting with something in his pocket flashed in front of her eyes and it all made sense. All anger faded from her system and she felt a burst of joy.

Her son had picked someone to marry – _already _– that she approved of.

"Phantom?"

"I'm so sorry! Please don't kill him!"

"I won't kill him Phantom…Does he know you're here?" she asked. She smiled when he shook his head. "Good."

Giving her an odd glance, Maddie stood again, feeling not so light headed and grabbed Phantom's hands. No sooner than he'd asked what she was doing, she began jumping up and down and squealing like a teenage girl, swinging Phantom around as she did so. Of course, Phantom, who was on the receiving end of her little celebratory dance, began smiling like and idiot. _At least she's happy for me…_

When Maddie had calmed herself down, she instantly began running through everything that had to be done for a wedding while Phantom hovered nearby. She was running through what the cake should look like when the second part of Phantom's question finally got through to her conscious mind; _Doesn't know what to do because I haven't…done…anything like that before. _

"Phantom?" Maddie, asked, suddenly feeling her blood run cold.

"Yeah?"

"What did you mean by 'haven't done anything like that before'?"

He came to a complete stop in the air rather than before when he swayed with the air currents that went through the lab. He paled and Maddie realized what he meant. So many emotions were going through her right now, and she didn't know which one to settle on for the first time…for the first time since her Jazz had left for college. Was her son really wanting to…? Looking up at Phantom who seemed to be choking on his words gave her all the affirmation that she needed. "Phantom…?"

"I-I…"

"Calm down."

"I AM CALM!"

"Don't you yell at me! I'm trying to help!" she yelled back.

"You're going to help?" he asked, now looking up at her while hovering upside down at a 45 degree angle. "Really?"

"Of course. I won't abandon my son when he asks for you to ask me for help. I am a little upset though that he didn't tell me he was going to ask Sam to marry him. What's done is done now. Does he know that you came to me?"

"Sort of… But not really."

"Good. It'll make it a little less embarrassing then. For him, at least."

Phantom's eyes widened and Maddie would've given anything to know what the young Ghost was thinking at that time, because he looked ready to pass out. However, she got over that and took a seat behind her work bench, and invited him to sit on the other side. For the next half hour, Maddie decided to add to her file on Phantom that he was capable of much more than they'd imagined, including blanking out (Maddie was getting to what he should tell Danny about his responsibilities were so Sam wouldn't get pregnant when Phantom's eyes suddenly closed and he fell forward, almost as if passing out…)

Finally, although Maddie finished and Phantom looked ready to kill himself –

If a Ghost could, that is.

"Remember to tell Danny everything, Phantom. If I end up with grandchildren in the next nine months, I'm coming after you."

He numbly nodded, "I understand."

"Good. Now that Danny's been taken care of, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Ye-No! I mean…kind of…not really."

She smiled at him and refused to coo at how cute he looked flustered. She understood why half the girls at Casper High were after him now. He was handsome, just like her son. The only thing was her son – she thought with pride – was taken.

"Well, I'm sure that can wait until another day," she said, "For now, you have to go tell Danny what I've just told you. And no skipping details!"

He made a gagging noise and nodded; "You can trust me."

"Can I?"

It was a joke, but the look on Phantom's face was pure hurt. Maddie frowned and wondered why he'd be so upset by what she'd just said. He looked down towards the ground and rubbed his elbow sheepishly; "I'll be going now."

"Phantom. I'm sorry. I do trust you, you know?"

He looked at her with a sad smile; "I know."

She continued to frown as he hovered backwards. She frantically searched his face for something that would give away why he looked so torn, and after finding nothing, Maddie did the only thing she could to when reassuring someone. She reached out and snatched his hand from midair and pulled him into an embrace. Unlike last time, where he flinched, he remained impassive to her.

"Phantom. I trust you. I want to thank you as well," she said.

"For what?" he replied in a monotone.

"For looking after my son when I can't. I know I said that I couldn't trust you around my children, but I do. Thank you for being there for him when I can't. I'm sorry if what I said hurt you."

He didn't say anything, but he returned her hug gingerly.

"Tell him I'd accept it no matter what."

"Accept what?"

"I will accept whatever he chooses to do in his life."

"Th-… I will."

"You remind me so much of my son, Phantom. I think I'm getting rather attached to you." She laughed as he chuckled. "Tell him I love him, will you? And I can't wait to tell him how proud I am!"

She thought she heard him mutter 'you have no idea how much…', but even if she did the rest of his sentence trailed off into nothing but a small breath. He pulled away and gave her a happy smile before floating up through the roof after saying goodbye.

She waved back, and even after she was gone, she continued to look up at the ceiling. Several moments past and she let out a long sigh. Phantom was like her son, and the more time she spent with the ethereal being, the more she became attached to him. _It is rather easy, though, _she decided walking over to the containment chamber, _and he is exactly like Danny. _

_He is exactly…like Danny?_

_Phantom is Danny?!_

Now that was an unsettling thought. She knew Phantom was half Ghost, but what the other half was still unanswered. _Was it possible for a human to be half Ghost?_ She shook her head, ashamed at her own thoughts. If Danny was anything other than…Danny, she'd would've known by now.

She peered through the glass of the chamber to find the red glob had still kept its' shape of a tree. Deciding to call it a night, she turned the monitors onto night mode and left the lab lights on for night. She knew that if insomnia struck tonight – which it would – she'd be down in the lab for a few more hours, either way.

As she walked up the stairs, she put the final monitor onto night mode, and if she'd looked back at the red glob, she would've seen it take the form of a miniature Danny and mimic his transformation to become Phantom.

* * *

A big Thank You! To everyone who reviewed and to those who simply added me to their favorites list. (Remove the spaces and you should be right!): 

http (there should be one of these : in here) // i49. photobucket. com / albums / f285 / Crystal-remnant / DanandMaddthaie. jpg

Or, if you're not internet savy, I'll just send you the picture.

-Crystal Remnant


	3. Broken

Prelude to Chapter 3:

**Broken **

Cursing to himself, Danny Fenton limped up the steps to Casper high, trying to keep his leg as immobile as possible. It was already 10:25 in the morning, and he figured he may as well cut the rest of the day and take the heat for it later. It was a good plan up until he remembered that he was supposed to be in a practical Chemistry exam. It wasn't so much the exam, but who his partner was – and Sam, his new fiancée, would kill him if he skipped.

He let out a small cry of pain as he applied a little too much pressure to his right leg. It was obviously broken - like a twig – and it was killing him. He considered going to the school nurse and asking for some sort of painkiller, but turning up at the first lunch break was suspicious enough. And so, he continued to limp down the hall towards his locker as people gave him strange stares. It was worth it, however, when he turned the corner and saw that Sam and Tucker were waiting by his locker.

Thankful for the small mercies in life, he waved and called out to them. Sam immediately recognized his call, and marched up to him. Tucker trailed close behind, pulling out his PDA and muttering something under his breath. He grinned sheepishly as Sam glared at him. "Hey…Sam. Look, I-"

"You better have a good excuse for cutting, Daniel Fenton," she hissed, poking his chest.

Tucker sniggered, but stopped when both Danny and Sam glared at him.

"I'll explain later. Could you help me over to my locker though? I think my leg's broken," he said, pointing down to his right leg which he was keeping suspended in the air. Sam blinked a few times, and then all traces of anger faded from her face and she went into 'Danny's Hurt' mode. It was a mode worthy of capital letters because whenever Danny had an injury he couldn't fix himself, Sam would become something equivalent to an emotionless nurse.

"Tuck, you take his left arm," Sam instructed, slinging his arm around her shoulders, "We'll get him to his locker first, and then we'll go out the back and set his bones."

Danny winced, remembering what it was like with just his wrist; "Are you sure? I mean, you could just let me lean on you…"

"Would you rather have a walking stick for the rest of your life?" Sam shot back.

_Oh yeah, 'Danny's Hurt' mode is in full swing now, _Danny thought as Tucker ducked under his left arm. Both took slow steps towards his locker, making sure Danny only stood on his right leg. Once again, Danny saw people staring and whispering, but Sam's sharp reminder on his arm drew his attention back to the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel – or the painkillers in his locker. Of course, Danny's luck was wearing thin lately, and Mr. Lancer rounded the corner a few steps before they made it to his locker. Frozen life a deer in the headlights, Danny gaped at the bald teacher who'd just taught the two lessons he skipped.

"_Alice in Wonderland _Fenton! What are you doing?"

"We were just helping him to his locker, Mr. Lancer," Sam spoke up almost instantly.

"Yeah, he just needs to get a few things before he goes home again. Homework and such," Tucker added on.

"I'm sure that Mr. Fenton can answer for _himself, _Mr. Foley," The older man quipped back, "So, Mr. Fenton, I was not aware that you'd be dropping by. Your parents haven't called to notify me of any illness of sorts."

"Uh…that's because it happened on the way to school," He replied nervously, "I got up late-" (He heard Mr. Lancer mumble; "How unusual.") "- and ran to school. But I decided to take a shortcut through the park and tripped…on my laces…and sort of, jarred or sprained my ankle really badly. It took a while to get to school 'cause I limped here," Danny stated. Not all of it was true, but not all of it was a lie, either. Danny had gotten up late, he had taken a shortcut through the park, and he had limped to school.

He just didn't mention that he was attacked by a Ghost.

Mr. Lancer sighed and shook his head; "Why didn't you contact your parents? Or at least, one of your two friends?"

"Well, they were in class and…" He let go of Sam's shoulders and dug into his pocket, pulling out what could've been a mobile phone, "It sought of got ground up when I tripped."

"Fenton, you're a walking disaster," the teacher said, shaking his head once more. He then pointed to Sam and Tucker, "Can I rely on you two to get him to the nurse's office while I contact his parents?"

"You can count on us, Sir," Sam said with a smile, "We'll get him there."

"Good. Mr. Fenton, you're excused this time, and you can pick up your homework tomorrow."

All three waited until Mr. Lancer had begun walking back to his office before they gave a collective sigh. "Nice save," Danny said, patting both Sam and Tucker on the back. Both smiled while readjusting their friend's weight so they could restart their small journey. While limping/walking there, Danny gave a brief explanation of what had happened; he was cutting through the park when his Ghost sense went off, and lo and behold, Skulker appeared. However, he spared no mercy as he opened fire immediately. Dodging the best he could, Danny ducked behind a rock. Said rock was blown to kingdom come, and a large chunk of the offend stone crushed his leg.

He'd screamed, transformed, and sucked Skulker into the Fenton thermos in 30 seconds. Tucker added with glee that it was a new record for Danny, and Sam added bitterly that if all they cared about was records, than she be more than happy to break Danny's bones if that what it took to get a new record. Both looked at her in shock and then remained silent until she added with a sigh; "It was just a joke."

Danny's stay in the hospital went about as well as anything went for him. Upon declaring that it was his ankle that was sprained, the nurse asked him to roll up his pant leg so she could strap it. Tucker and Sam both looked at each other nervously while their best friend stuttered and mumbled, trying to think of a reason _not _to. Once again, Danny's luck shone through and the no-nonsense nurse took a pair of scissors and cut directly up the seam line.

Cringing as the nurse gasped and dropped her scissors, he looked at his friends pleadingly – but they were too horrified by the sight of his leg to notice his silent plea. A large purple and yellow lump had sprung up from near the center of his leg, and if the green tint surrounding the area was any indication of the break, it would be more than a fracture. The nurse snapped out of her stupor and ran towards the phone that was only connected to other phones in the school.

"Mr. Lancer? Yes, it's Nurse Katie, I – Yes; it had to do with Mr. Fenton." The three friends shared a panicked look as the blonde nurse frowned, "I'm sorry to say, but he doesn't have a sprained ankle-" There was a small pause before she looked shocked "- He's not faking, either. He's broken his leg clean in two."

"Danny! What do we do?" Tucker hissed frantically at his friend.

"I don't know!"

"Can't you just go Ghost or something?

"Guys, calm down. We can-"

"I have to see this for myself." Mr. Lancer announced, slamming the door to the nurses' bay opened. His eyes fell inevitably on Danny, and then widened in surprise when he saw his student's leg. "_Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone!_"

"Oh no, two book titles in one day," Sam murmured to herself.

"Fenton! I thought you said your ankle was sprained?" Mr. Lancer questioned, moving in for closer inspection. Danny started to edge nervously off the bed as he came closer. He laughed nervously and flinched when his hand met nothing but air, "Why didn't you go straight to the hospital?"

"Danny?"

Tucker nearly jumped out of his skin as Jack and Maddie barged into the room. Nearly crushed against the wall, Sam suddenly felt overly claustrophobic as Jack Fenton's massive form rushed over to his son's side. "D-Dad?" Danny stuttered in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"My Fudge! Look at his leg! Was it a Ghost, Danny? Because I'll hunt that slimy ectoplasmic trash down and give 'em a piece of the Fenton Bazooka!" He cried dramatically, taking his son by the shoulders and enveloping him in a tight hug. Slightly more rational, Maddie placed a hand on Jack's arm and he let go of his son, seeing that the youngest Fenton in the room had turned blue from lack of oxygen.

"Honey, what happened?" Maddie asked once Danny had gotten enough air into him to speak again.

"I-"

"You should get him to a hospital," Nurse Katie interrupted, "It's a clean break."

"Or not," Tucker suggested.

"And pray tell, Mr. Foley, why not?" Mr. Lancer asked.

Amidst the chaos, Sam had somehow started arguing with some nosey freshman who'd peaked in the door and wouldn't leave while Jack had gone onto explain why it could've been a Ghost that had a part in breaking Danny's leg. Mr. Lancer was interrogating Tucker on what was truly going on, and with all the background noise, Danny couldn't concentrate hard enough to hear his mother's concerned voice.

Suddenly, Jack pulled out an Ecto-gun and aimed it at everyone in the room, demonstrating the proper technique. However, when he aimed it at Danny who'd been listening to his English teacher interrogate his best friend, he noticed the weapon and let out a small yelp, and out of habit went to dodge. Not even Maddie's hold on her son stopped him from falling off the edge of the bed – which he'd been precariously close too – and onto the linoleum floors. Maddie tried grabbing her son's shirt but all it truly did was shift him so he spun awkwardly around and bashed his leg onto the table next to the bed that held jars of cotton balls and Band-Aid boxes.

Maddie screamed after her son and instantly everyone was surrounding Danny who was unmoving on the floor. She kneeled down next to him as Sam slammed the door on the freshman who were now more interested than before. "Honey," Maddie said softly, brushing the hair out of his face, "Danny, can you hear me?" she paused and waited for him to move, and when he didn't; she frantically reached for her phone and dialed '911'.

* * *

The next morning was greeted with a very groggy and sore Danny Fenton. He tried rolling onto his side and pulling his covers up over his head to block out the sun, but when his body refused, he became aware of his surroundings. Fingering the white sheets that had been dragged up over his head, Danny realized that they were typical Amity View Hospital sheets. He didn't move, however, as the sun that was shining into the room also cast a calming glow through the sheets that made him feel warm and safe. 

He blinked a few times and tried to move his leg again only to find it wrapped in a plaster cast. He arched an eyebrow as he caught sight of the baby blue gauze that wrapped around it and eventually, as the haze of sleep and drugs was slowly lifted, he felt brave enough to venture out from underneath the covers. Next to him a silent heart monitor stood and it made him nervous; the position of it made it look like it was watching him.

Sitting up, he surveyed his room – no one was in it, which was a good thing, he decided – and saw three chairs, two small tables, and an abundance of flowers, balloons and stuffed animals. There was so much so that it had piled up along the far wall of the room and along the wall where the window was. There was a recliner that looked like someone had slept on last night, and a wooden door was just off to his right.

Using his hand to block the sun from his eyes, he guessed it was morning - eleven o'clock at the latest – when he caught sight of something shiny on one of the tables next to him. His eyes widened as he saw Sam's MP3 player on the woodened surface, just out of his reach. Scowling, he reached out for it the first time in vainly. Not in the least bit disheartened, he reached out again; except this time he lifted his body off his bed slightly. He was a few micro-hairs away from it when the door opened and he crashed to the ground in a tangle of sheets, wires and limbs.

"Danny?"

Danny sat up, nursing his head with his hand as the monitor next to him gave three warning beeps before letting out a loud wail. He immediately forgot about his new injury and clamped his hands over his ears as the new person in the room turned it off. Warm hands pried his hands away from his ears and tilted his chin up gingerly. Sam's eyes searched him for any other injury and came to a rest, staring into his eyes.

"Sorry," She said, reaching out and pulling the curtain that surrounded the bed away from him, "Are you alright?"

"I'm…" he trailed off, catching sight of his cast, "Fine."

As soon as the word left his mouth he found himself wrapped in a tight embrace. Danny let himself relax into her embrace and rested his head on her shoulder. He let himself revel in the feeling of her breath and warmth surrounding him before asking, "How long was I out?"

Sam laughed, "Too long. Nearly three days."

"Three days?!"

"Calm down," She said forcefully, pulling back and brushing stray black hairs out of his face, "It's not good if you panic. You went into shock."

"Shock? What the? How did that happen?" He asked curiously. It wasn't the first time he'd gone into shock; Ghost fights tended to more or less end in a less than favorable way. However, if Sam or Tucker acted quickly enough, he'd be home and awake within the hour.

"You freaked out when Jack pointed the Ecto-gun at you. Apparently Maddie still had a hold of you and you sort of did a flip," she said, making the action with her hands, "And hit your leg on the table next to the bed. You went into shock and when you wouldn't wake up, the doctors tried to run all types of tests."

"They didn't, did they?" Danny asked, suddenly feeling the need to flee the country.

Sam shook her head, "We convinced them not to. Besides, family has the last say in treatment. That and money helps too."

"You…bribed the doctors?"

She smirked at him, "It was more a donation to their personal recreational accounts."

"Oh…I see."

"Let's get you back up onto the bed, shall we?"

Chapter 3:

**Embracing the Future**

"Thanks man."

"No problem," Danny said, taking the marker from one of his classmates.

"Do you have any idea who that was?" Sam whispered to him once the overly-tones teen was gone. Danny shook his head and laughed while Sam sighed, sitting down in the seat next to him at the lunch table. Of course, Danny was taking up already three quarters of the bench and that left little room for Sam. So, moving down the seat a little he leaned back on Sam who shrugged and offered her shoulder. He tilted his head back and smiled at her, "This is fun."

"For you."

"You know you like it," Danny retorted playfully.

"What? Having strange girls coming up to you and signing your cast while _accidentally _letting their hands grope your leg?" She snorted.

"Someone's jealous," Tucker said from the other side of the table.

Danny shrugged, "And she's got every right to be." Tucker and Sam both looked at him oddly, and Danny sat up straight, "What?"

"I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said."

"Oh shut it."

Danny had left the hospital the night after waking up. Of course, as per hospital policy, he had to leave to a wheel chair. Danny sulked while both Sam and his mother told him it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Tucker had come along to join the little precession out of the hospital, and volunteered to wheel him out. Sam had her concerns, but Jack had said it was alright, and Maddie trusted Tucker. Of course, two boys plus a chair on wheels isn't exactly a good combination.

While signing Danny out, Tucker and Danny had decided it would be fun to see how fast they could go.

Danny busted open his elbow, which required four stitches, and Tucker sprained his wrist, prolonging the Halfa's stay.

However, a week later Danny had returned to school and people had swamped him before he even managed to make it to the doors. His cast was covered in drawings, scribbles, notes, signatures and everything else – which included a mark from a kiss that one of Paulina's satellites had left – and only small patches of the blue were visible. Even then, the color was harder to come by because Tucker would fill the spaces in with his own drawings.

Paradise was short lived though as Ghosts began to appear frequently. Skulker and (surprisingly) the Box Ghosts had made roughly several appearances all up, and it was driving Danny up the wall. When he battled them, it took longer and took more energy to defeat them. And on more than one occasion his mother had to help, because he could only use long-range attacks. Sam had consoled him, told him that once his leg had healed he could go back to hand to hand combat, but that was his favourite type of fighting.

Danny also had his hands full trying to hide his secret from Maddie.

His Ghost side was freely doing what Danny wanted to do – removing the cast at random intervals. Twice in one day was the record, and he hated the fact that Tucker would pin him down while Sam re-aligned his leg before forcing the cast back on. It wasn't the most pleasant experience.

Night patrols continued regardless of his leg, and Phantom would often be seen with his two 'Side Kicks', trawling the city for Ghosts. On particularly clammy nights stranger Ghosts would appear. Sam had explained that they'd never noticed it before because of the 'Snap, Whack and Zap!' method they always used, and because of Danny's injury (and the precautions they'd taken to lessen the damage), they'd finally picked up on it. Danny, who did most of the fighting, agreed and vowed to pay closer attention to the Ghosts from then on.

However, that didn't _stop _the strange Ghosts from appearing.

Three friends stood (or hovered) in the middle of a darkened street with equal looks of curiosity and disgust one particularly cold night. In front of them, a rabid Ghost-Cooler box was growling ferociously. Green foam lined its mouth, and jagged razor teeth protruded from the lid. Tucker was the first who spoke up. "What the hell is _that?_"

"Kind of reminds me of one of Dad's experiments."

"No way. It's too freaky to be one of his. Even your parents have limits, Danny." Sam flinched as the Ghost-Cooler with teeth 'barked' at them, exposing its insides – rotten Salami.

"Rabies," Tucker and Danny said in unison.

"Gross."

Danny sighed and grounded himself – careful of his leg – and reached a hand out to Sam. "Thermos."

She cocked an eyebrow. "I thought Tucker had it?"

"Nuh-uh. You said you'd bring it this time," Tucker replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Besides, don't you have one Danny?"

The half-breed sighed and ran a hand down his face, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I get the feeling that this is going to be a long night…"

"Well, hop to it. No pun intended, really!" Tucker said, smacking his friend on the back encouragingly. Sam, for her part, kissed Danny on the cheek chastely and gently nudged him in the direction of the rabid Cooler with teeth. He limped forward and came to a stop a few feet away from the green container. It didn't seem to notice him, so he took the opportunity to get the first hit in. It felt strange kicking a cooler for no reason, but as it hit the wall and smashed into pieces, Danny couldn't help but feel slightly amused.

"Done," He said nonchalantly, turning to face his friends.

"Good. I'm starving! I think the Nasty Burger is still open!" Tucker cried happily.

Sam's nose wrinkled in disgust. "There's no way I'm eating that junk!"

"Then we'll stop by that place you love so much on the way there," Danny said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "You can pick up a salad. Heck, after seeing what was inside that thing, I think I'm up for a salad myself."

Sam's eyes brightened at the prospect of Danny eating something other than Sloppy Joes. He laughed at her hopeful look, and as the three continued to talk, they failed to notice two things that happened simultaneously; The Fenton R.V pulled up, and the drink cooler with teeth pulled itself together, only ten times its' original size. Danny, who was still in his Ghost form (and hanging off Sam, as Maddie pointed out as she jumped out of the Assault vehicle.) was too distracted by his parents to notice the Ghost-Cooler attack from behind.

It shoved him off balance, which also threw Tucker and Sam into the gutters. He rolled out of the way as it tried to tip over onto him, and watched in disgust as its insides poured out onto the street. He heard Sam cry 'I'm going to be sick!' when it simply scooped the rotten meat back up into its' jaws. Frowned, he pushed himself back up and threw a well aimed ectoplasmic blast as it. However, all it seemed to do was make in angrier.

Maddie, who'd raced over to Sam's side while Jack aided Tucker, watched in horror as it tried to devour Phantom. Judging from the look on Sam's face, she could tell her soon to be daughter-in-law was just as disgusted as she was.

"Danny! Look out!" Tucker cried out.

Danny, so distracted by the cry, dodged two seconds two late and it managed to sink its teeth into one of his legs. And, of course, Fenton luck kicked in. He screamed in agony as he felt the slowly setting bone in his right leg snap under the pressure of the cooler's bite. Purple spots danced in his vision as he felt himself being hoisted up from the ground. Distantly, he heard Sam screaming and his father yelling something.

''

"Fudge!" Jack cried out, hearing a sharp crack.

Maddie couldn't tear her eyes away from what was happening. Sam was shaking in her grasp, and she barely registered when she tried pull away. However, the Ghost hunter held her tight. "You can't. It's too dangerous. Jack! Get Tucker to the R.V!" She yelled, still keeping an eye of Phantom.

"On it!"

Before Maddie could tell Sam to stop struggling, she watched as Phantom grabbed his leg and started screaming. She was about to race forward when His screams turned into his patented Ghostly Wail, making windows along the street shatter, as well as the Ghost cooler's teeth shatter. Maddie felt a wave of relief sweep through her as Phantom fell to the ground, half-conscious, but otherwise out of the thing's jaws.

Dashing forward, she scooped up Phantom before the Ghost cooler could try and take another snap at him. She rolled off to the side, and quickly dodged again as it lunged for them. Sam, seeing this as an opportune moment to act, fired a small ray from her wrist gun. It didn't do much, but it distracted the Ghost long enough for Maddie to get in the clear. Said Ghost hunter was trying to survey the damage done to Danny while keeping an eye on the monster.

"…can keep it…Thermos…" He started laughing weakly and Maddie sighed.

"Mads! Over here!" Jack yelled, waving one arm high in the air. In his other hand he was holding a strange looking gun. Maddie nodded in affirmation and looked over to where Sam was mocking the Ghost, only partially gaining its attention.

"Sam!" She called out, "Get out of the way! Quickly!" Already ahead of her, Sam started to retreat towards the Fenton R.V. When she was a good distance away from the Ghost and safely near the R.V, Maddie Turned to Jack, "Now!"

A jet of green light shot out from the Fenton Compact Bazooka. Maddie, Sam and Jack watched as it burned a hole straight though the Ghost cooler. Said cooler seemed to freeze in place for several moments before giving a high pitched scream and as if melting, it collapsed into a green puddle in the street. Everyone stayed silent for a few moments until Jack spoke. "Well, it works!" he cried happily. Sam agreed, nodding her head numbly.

Maddie, relieved that the threat was now reduced to a puddle in the street, looked down next to her where Phantom was - or, at least, had been. Her stomach sank for a moment, seeing he was no longer there. Instantly she remembered how he often fled after fights and sighed, thinking that this time was no different.

"Danny!"

She looked up and was surprised to see that Phantom had not, in fact, fled, but was stumbling like a drunk towards the puddle of green ectoplasm. "Stupid cooler thingy!" he slurred out loudly, "I should kick y'ur butt…But no-o! you jus' had ta bec'm a puddle, didn't ya? Ya good fa' nothin' Goat…"

"Goat?"

"I think he means 'Ghost'," Sam replied, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, cool! Role'coaster!" He cried out suddenly. Maddie watched with muted awe as two rings formed at his waist, but disappeared just as quickly as they appeared. "The world's…spinnin', I think," he slurred again, stumbling back. The same rings appeared around his waist, except this time they didn't disappear. Sam gave a small cry in shock while Maddie and Jack watched on as the two lights traveled up and down his body.

In his place, Danny Fenton swayed on his feet before falling face first onto the gravel and ectoplasm.

No one said anything.

_

* * *

_


End file.
